Milan owner declared bankrupt | Citi Sport

In an astonishing report this morning, Italian daily Corriere della Sera claims that Milan owner Yonghong Li is bankrupt and that his assets will be auctioned off on Taobao.

Taobao is the Chinese equivalent of Ebay and this is not the first time that investigations have found the patron to be devoid of the funds and the China Securities Regulatory Commission has declared that an investigation is under way into illegal practices from his holding company Shenzhen Jie Ande, who are reported to have failed to disclose his bankruptcy.

Li bought the Rossoneri for around €740M last year, bringing to an end the era of Silvio Berlusconi after 30 years.

Li however, had to take out a huge loan from hedge fund Elliott Management in order to complete the sale and now Corriere della Sera claims that not only can he not repay that loan, but he is also being sued by two banks for unpaid debts which has led to his assets being sold to the highest bidder on Taobao.

Packaging company, Zhuhai Zhongfu has been valued at €60M of which Li’s holding company owns just under 12 per cent.The most disturbing finding in the report however is the fact that Li was already insolvent by the time he took over full control of the club last April.

Zhuhai Zhongfu should have been sold in February last year but was held up by the appeal process.